Start with alpha testing. Then move on to beta testing. Then advance to the stages in product development when systems and interfaces are tested for viability. Then make adjustments and corrections before conducting additional testing until – finally — you reach the viable product stage.

Rarely will the initial incarnation of a new product design ever survive completely intact after a user testing cycle. Design staff and other personnel work out many of the major issues beforehand, but eventually user testing is needed to for a device to achieve the viable product stage. » Read more: Five Techniques to Improve User Testing

With the new Windows 10 release date on the horizon, and with the Preview Build version already here (as of March 18, 2015), GUI and UI developers and designers wonder if it will improve PC UX. There were many complaints about the 8.0 and 8.1 systems in which users stated that some features were not user-friendly. This is not the feedback that designers want to hear. Building great UX technology into any hardware or software system is their ultimate goal – delivering a high level of user satisfaction with the products they purchase. Taking feedback from 8.0 and 8.1 to heart and applying it in this new release should help the designers at Microsoft to increase their success rate.

Everyone has become familiar with touch technology in the 21st century, both with and without haptic feedback. But touchscreen interfaces controlled by a finger or stylus aren’t the only methods of user interface in the Age of Technology. Holographic reflection, infrared detection and thought projection are just some of the cutting-edge interface options available for those seeking alternative methods to enhance the user experience. » Read more: Off-Surface UI Innovations

It isn’t enough to design a good app these days; a developer must also design a good user experience. As the first impression and the method with which a user interacts and controls an app, the interface often decides between winning in your market and coming in something other than first place. UX conferences showcase the best and brightest as well as what’s coming in the near and imagined future. Here then, are four “Must Attend” UX conferences for 2015. » Read more: 2015 UX Conferences You Shouldn’t Miss

UI is one of the most important aspects to consider when designing a new device or application. Failure to get this right will dramatically affect the success of the final product. If potential customers deem the app to be frustrating, difficult to navigate, or unsightly, it’s likely they will find an alternative – even if the product or service being marketed is far superior to the competition.

Many demographic traits distinguish users. In starting a user interface design analysis, a chief task for the designer is to identify those characteristics most critical to the realization of the specific interface goals.

General Characteristics

General traits are broad identifying variables such as age, gender, work experience, education, and culture. Consider an example of designing tax preparation software for a small business. Try to form initial impressions of some design tactics you might use. Would you use a complex one page data entry form, a tabbed interface, or a step-by-step question Wizard? Or perhaps some combination?

In just a few weeks, industry leaders from all over the world will converge at embedded world 2015 at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg in Nuremberg, Germany.

While over 800 exhibitors from 35 different countries showcase the latest tools, trends and products in embedded technology at the embedded world Exhibition, key members of the embedded community will gather together at two parallel conferences to engage in a focused dialogue on the industry’s current challenges and best practices and look beyond to the innovations of tomorrow. » Read more: Altia to Present at embedded world 2015 Conferences